Russia sanctioned a 17-year-old British student Wednesday, the youngest person ever targeted by Moscow's sanctions regime, after his report exposed a massive cryptocurrency money-laundering operation linked to the Kremlin.
Alexander Browder, founder of the Global Cryptocurrency Laundering Database, was hit with a travel ban along with four other British nationals, including journalists and a business director.
Browder's March 2026 report, published by the Henry Jackson Society, alleged that Russia, Iran, and North Korea laundered $350 billion in illicit cryptocurrency. Central to his investigation was the A7A5 stablecoin, a ruble-backed digital currency launched in January 2025 by UK-sanctioned Moldovan Ilan Shor and sanctioned Russian bank Promsvyazbank.
The network reportedly moved $90 billion in transactions last year, according to UK government data cited in Browder's work.
Calling the sanctions a "badge of honor," Browder said his research exposed Russia's "Achilles' heel," arguing that without A7A5, Moscow could not fund its war. His father is Sir Bill Browder, a prominent Kremlin critic and architect of the U.S. Magnitsky Act, adding a personal dimension to the retaliation.